Moses Mendelssohn 1729 – 1786
Moses Mendelssohn was a German-Jewish philosopher and the central figure of the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, he became a leading representative of the Berlin Enlightenment alongside Lessing, who modeled the title character of Nathan the Wise on him. His Phaedon argued for the immortality of the soul in the manner of Plato, and Jerusalem defended the separation of church and state and the compatibility of Judaism with Enlightenment rationality. His German translation of the Pentateuch helped to draw German Jews into the cultural life of Europe.
Key facts
- Nationality
- German
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Enlightenment, Jewish
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to Moses Mendelssohn:
“I demand only the freedom to think for myself.”
-
Attributed to Moses Mendelssohn:
“Reason is the soul's eye, faith its trust.”
-
Attributed to Moses Mendelssohn:
“Religion of reason can never be in contradiction with itself.”
-
Attributed to Moses Mendelssohn:
“The state and religion have entirely different goals.”
-
Attributed to Moses Mendelssohn:
“The conviction of the truth must spring up freely in the mind.”